


The Only Time James Truly Cares

by ImmortalHKitty



Category: Cow Chop, fake chop - Fandom
Genre: Fake Chop, Gen, also james and aleks are in a platonic relationship, but no death, everything bad happens to aleks lmao, sorry bud, there's blood mention and all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-22
Updated: 2017-08-22
Packaged: 2018-12-18 17:45:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11879604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImmortalHKitty/pseuds/ImmortalHKitty
Summary: Sometimes things just don’t turn out the way you plan. Sometimes you find that out when your best friend is practically dying and you had a gut feeling this entire time.





	The Only Time James Truly Cares

At first, James thought that this mission would be easy. Brett had told Aleks, Trevor, and him that they would be meeting with a group of dealers to negotiate supplies. James was in fact annoyed at first at the thought of trying to bargain with other punks like them; he wants action! Still, he listened to Brett because an angry Brett is more menacing than any other gang member or police officer.

It isn't until James pulls up to the meeting location, an abandoned factory that has been taken back by nature, that his stomach churns with a feeling of uneasiness. It doesn't make sense. All they have to do is discuss supplies and money until they reach an agreement. It's a piece of cake. He doesn't voice this out loud, but something on his face must have given him away.

"Hey, dude, are you alright?" Questions Aleks who has one hand on the door handle. James internally curses the other for noticing his sudden mood change, but what's what happens when you've been partners/ best friends with someone for years.

"Yeah, I just don't want to do this. This is Brett's fucking job!" James isn't lying, he really doesn't want to do this, but if Aleks knew about his feeling that some shit might go down he'll just call James paranoid since they usually aren't the ones doing negotiations.

"I agree, but do you remember everything he told you to say?" When Aleks receives a head nod he says, "Alright, let's go."

 

"So, that's our deal," James finishes his pre planned speech. The head of the dealers, Alex, takes a glance at his guys (Alex introduced them as Zach and Jack), as if to discuss, but the other two just nod.

"Well, gentlemen, we like your deal." As Alex takes his hand out of his pocket for a handshake, a lighter falls out. "Oh, excuse me." Just as he bends down to get it, shots ring out.

Everything happens in a blur. Guns are drawn without hesitation by the Fake Chop members. Trevor automatically throws himself in front of James and Aleks cause, as hard as it is to admit, their lives are more valuable than his. They try to hide, but they are in the middle of the factory. The dealers, much to the others dismay, are able to hide behind some machinery that’s close to them. Gunfire is exchanged between the gang and the dealers. That is until Aleks collapses, blood instantly pooling from a shot from close to the abdomen.

"You fucks!" James shouts in rage. With striking accuracy, he hits the one he believes is Jack in the chest. The idiot was stupid enough to expose that much of himself when he tried to land another shot, but James is an extraordinary shooter no matter what. As soon as he goes down, the remaining two scramble away to safety. James would've gone after them, but Aleks takes priority. After that, it’s quite minus Aleks’ pained noises.

"Trevor, keep cover!" James then demands, kneeling next to the fallen male who is groaning loudly, hands weakly pressing against his wound. James take a moment to reflect that his gut feeling was correct, but quickly shakes the thought off.

"Joe, you need to get here now. Aleks has been shot. He needs to get taken care of by Anna immediately," James says hurriedly into his ear piece, using his other hand to push Aleks' hands away and replace them with his own. He applies more pressure, which makes Aleks groan even louder.

"Oh, no, I'm on my way," Joe replies instantly. He's stationed a few roads away just in case anything like this happens or the guys need back up.

James doesn't even respond, he just sheds the jacket he's wearing, wads it up, and replaces his hands with it. Surprisingly, this is the first time that something this dramatic has occurred. Sure, there have been stab/ minor gunshot wounds, but this time the injury seems very serious. It's a good thing Anna taught them all how to stop bleeding.

"Dude... it hurts so fucking...bad," Aleks wheezes out. He's squirming a bit in pain, but stops once James yells at him cause it'll just make the blood flow more.

"I'm sure it fucking does, but you gotta stay alive, Aleksandr. You're annoying enough as it is alive, I can't imagine you as a ghost." Leave it to James to make a joke when his best friend is probably dying. It's not his fault that making jokes is the only way he's keeping his cool right now.

"Fuck you," mumbles the injured male. His skin is slowly turning cool and clammy, which if James can remember from Anna's teaching, is a bad sign. He also seems to be growing weaker, which is obviously another red flag of blood loss. James lifts one hand to slid his phone out, after wiping blood off on his jeans, and calls Brett.

"Brett, we got fucked. The dealers tried taking us out. They got fucking Aleks in the abdomen. He's alive, but he's getting weaker. Trevor and I are fine. I managed to kill the one that shot Aleks. The other fuckers ran away, though," James spits out as soon as he knows Brett answered.

"Fuck, ok, I hear you. Get Aleks out of there. I'll tell Anna and I'll get Asher to find out where those pieces of shit went," Brett growls out. Once James confirms he heard him he hangs up, almost throwing the phone across the room in anger. The thought of some one harming any of his crew members fills Brett with absolute rage. He'll make sure those guys pay for the pain they caused to Aleks.

"James... James, can you hear me? I'm outside the door." Joe's voice comes back over though the ear piece.

"Yeah, I hear you," James responds after yelling at Trevor to open the goddamn door.  
James, as gently as possible, scoops up Aleks bridal style. He arranges Aleks so this his head is tucked in the crook of James’ neck. Aleks is definitely growing worse since now all he's making are light groans and small whimpers. He doesn't even make a comment about how James carrying him, which he totally would on any other normal day. Trevor does as told, letting James run out first, all the while keeping guard.

Joe had already opened the back door to the car, so James slides Aleks in before getting in himself and placing Aleks’ head in his lap. James tosses Trevor his keys to the car they arrived in and tells him to take his time getting back to the warehouse. If anyone happened to be near and heard the gunshots, the police would most certainly be called. If they found Trevor speeding away from the direction of the factory, it would look suspicious.

"What happened?" Joe finally presses once they are away from the factory. Thankfully he's able to speed since the factory is located in a practically deserted area.

"I think someone was in the upper level. The main dude dropped a lighter and as he bent down, that's when everything happened."

James wants to beat himself up for being so stupid and not checking to see if he could spot anything out of sorts. Look where that got them. He glances down at Aleks, whose eyes have slipped shut, and notices that he's been running his fingers through blonde hair subconsciously. Aleks doesn't deserve this, even though he is the most annoying person in the group.

"Aleks?" When receiving no answer, James smacks the other's cheek in hopes to wake him. "Aleksandr!"

"What's going on?" Joe demands, quickly glancing in the rearview mirror to see a clearly panicked James.

James says nothing. He just frantically tries to find Aleks' pulse point by turning his head and placing his fingers on the jugular. He lets out a relieved sigh upon feeling a pulse. James informs Joe by saying, "You need to hurry the fuck up. He passed out and his pulse is really weak."

"Don't worry, we're almost back to the warehouse," reassures Joe. He's not even lying, they're roughly ten minutes away. James will probably say it's longer, but the panic of his best friend pretty much bleeding to death is probably making time slow down.

To be fair, James wouldn't be freaking out this much if Aleks had only been shot in the arm or leg (which did happen when they were part of....their old group), but since he might actually die from this wound, there's need for some panic. Sure, James, along with everyone else, knows that there's always a chance of getting injured or killed with each mission, but he's never thought what it would be like if anyone does die. What if Aleks died right then and there at the factory? James and Trevor would have watched Aleks take his last breath. He could have died in-

"James! James, we're back." Joe's voice breaks James from his morbid thoughts that had started to spiral into a dark hole.

"'Bout fuckin' time," mutters James. After checking for a pulse again, he delicately removes Aleks' head from his lap. Sliding out, he is immediately met by Brett, Asher, and Anna.

"James, go wash off. I'll get Aleks," says Brett who is obviously referring to Aleks' blood all over his hands and clothes.

"No!" James practically shouts. If anyone is still caring for Aleks, it's him. He reaches back into the car to slide one arm under his head and the other under his knees. Carefully, he lifts Aleks out. He leaves his bloodied jacket in the backseat. Joe can get rid of it for him.

"Is he passed out?" Brett asks, noticing how the other male's head lulls to the side and the lack of pained sounds.

"Yeah, probably from blood loss." Once again, James hikes up his friend's head so that it's nestled in the crook of his neck.

"James, get him to my room asap," demands Anna. Of course, James obeys and practically sprints to the medical room. He lays Aleks down on the table as Anna enters the room with Asher. He was taught by Anna just in case she isn't around or she needs an extra hand like now.

"We'll take care of him, I promise," Anna soothes the male. As she speaks, Asher gathers antiseptics.

"I trust you," says James. Of course he trusts them, Anna was a nurse until she was caught dealing opioids to people for a little bit extra cash. Now, Fake Chop has her and she's patched them up more than once. Anna even goes undercover as a spy sometimes since no one knows about the gang's medic. She really is a blessing to have.

Anna smiles at him then shuts the door to her small room. James stares at the door for a few seconds before shaking his head and walking away. If Aleks can survive an entire car ride, he can survive with the help of medical attention. James needs to relax, his best friend is going to live. If not, well, then continuing with this crew will be a struggle.

"Trevor filled us in on what happen," Brett says when James returns to where the rest of the group is gathered, including Jakob and Lindsey. "Asher actually found where the fuckers went. There was a third guy with them by the name of Rian Dawson. He must have been the one that shot first. It looks like they were on their way to the airport to take a nice trip to London. It's a shame their trip is cancelled now."

"Wait, who did it?" The entire crew is here, so no one could have gone out to kill them and clean up that quickly. It's doesn't even matter now, though. James just feels exhausted at this rate and Aleks' blood on him is really making his skin crawl.

"Just some friends of mine that were closer to them than us." Brett shrugs. "We're gonna need new suppliers now, but first, take a shower. That's an order. Also, take a nap. That's also an order."

Nothing sounds better than that, so James drags his ass to the mini bathroom they had built into the warehouse, just like they did with making separate rooms. He wishes for the shower to be relaxing, but the whole time he just viciously scrubs at the blood, making his skin even redder. When he get finally gets out, he notices that someone left some clean clothes, even though he never heard anyone come in, but he's grateful. James doesn't even bother with drying his curls, he just crawls right into a bed where his dreams are even worse versions of what happened.

"James, hey, James," a voice whispers whilst shaking said male lightly.

"Huh, what?" James opens his eyes, blinking a few times to recognize Joe. "Is he ok?" He bolts upright at the memory of Aleks on the brink of death.

"Hey, hey, yeah, he's fine." Joe flashes him his famous smiles which reassures James. "You've been out for three hours, man."

“It only feels like I only slept for five minutes. Anyway, is Aleks awake?" Questions James. He gets up and stretches, instantly feeling better after knowing Aleks didn't die.

"I mean, he kind of is. Anna said he's probably gonna sleep a lot because of the blood loss, but he's alive."

"Will Anna let me see him?" Anna has been known to be protective of who ever is in her care. You don’t decide when you want to visit someone while they’re incapacitated, she does.

"Actually, yeah, she will. That's why I came to get you. Since he's starting to wake up she'll let you see him cause she knows how concerned you are."

"Great." James follows Joe to the medical room where, before he even has a chance to even open the door, Anna slips out.

"Listen," she begins. "Yes, Aleks is fine. I'm sure Joe told you. I actually managed to get the bullet out. Thankfully, it didn't hit anything major like I thought it did. Asher sewed him up and we gave him an IV for pain medication. He's still really weak and out of it cause he did lose a lot of blood and now there's pain meds in his system. Do anything to upset him and you're dead. Got it, Wilson?"

"Yes, ma'am," James agrees. He would give Anna the vote for being the second scariest member, the first obviously being Brett. Joe seems to feel intimidated since he shuffles away from the two.

"Excellent, now I'm gonna go and get Aleks some food that'll help replenish his blood count. Asher is at his station in case anything happens, even though Aleks should be fine. I'll see you in a bit. Bye!" With that, Anna leaves. James assumes this means he can finally enter the room, so he pushes the door open very carefully.

"Aleksandr?" James says softly, entering the room then shutting the door quietly. He tiptoes over to where one of the beds that's closed off by a sheet is set up. He pulls a bit back, just to peek at Aleks' state.

Aleks' eyes open at the sound of the sheet being moved. James can easily see how tired the other still is just by looking at his eyes. Other than that, Aleks looks pretty good for what he just went through. His shirt had been removed, exposing his chest tattoos. To no surprise, there's a patch of white gauze placed over the gunshot wound. Like Anna had said, there's an IV stuck in his left hand, probably feeding Aleks morphine or something. Of course they are dealt the stronger drugs.

"Hey," whispers Aleks who then shuts his eyes after seeing it's James.

"Hey yourself." James can't explain how relieved he is to see Aleks actually alive. The other times Aleks was wounded, he bounced right back. This time, James, and surely Brett, will make sure he takes it easy when recovering.

"How fucking stupid is it for me to get shot during a negotiation, of all things?" Aleks laughs, but right after he groans in pain. His face scrunches up at his mistake.

"Hey, you better take it easy, you asshole," reprimands James, even though he has a smile on his face.

"Gee, I've never seen you this caring before. Not even the time when I first got shot in the leg. You decided to hide my crutches when I was asleep and I had to hobble around trying to find them," Aleks jokes.

"What can I say?" James shrugs. "You almost didn't die that time."

"Oh, so it takes me actually almost dying to show that you care?" Aleks has a light smile on his face. They both care for each other, it's just not in the way you would consider normal ways of expression said affection. Despite that, they both know that they both care for each other more than they would like to admit.

"Like I said, you're already annoying enough as it is alive, you'd be a pain in the fucking ass more than usual if you became a ghost."

"You think you're special enough for me to haunt," Aleks snorts. Still, there's a smile on his face. This time he made it out alive, but no one can predict the future to know if him, or anyone else, will be so fortunate the next time.

"Fine, if you die before me, you can fucking do whatever. Just every once in awhile come back and knock some shit off my counter so I know you're still around." Even though James is just messing with him, he's still happy his asshole best friend is still alive.

"Deal, now can you leave? Whatever this medication is is making me tired. Even though all I’ve done so far is sleep." Aleks closes his eyes again.

"Sure thing, man. I'll be back later to check on you, okay?" James says softly. After he hears a light "mmhmm" he pulls the curtain closed and leaves the medical room with one thought: this probably wouldn't have happened if Brett went instead of them.

**Author's Note:**

> I posted this on my tumblr youjustgotcowchopped first, but I thought it would be easy if I posted it here too. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.


End file.
